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Apollo 13 Engineers to be Honored

Posted by samzenpus on from the duct-tape-to-the-rescue dept.

sconeu writes "Yahoo! News is carrying a story that the engineers who helped save the crew of Apollo 13 will be honored by GlobalSpec. The article mentions the jury rigged air scrubbers, and gives duct tape its due." Here is our coverage of the 35th anniversary.

7 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Thing I'd like to know is... by Smiffa2001 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...why the air scrubbers were different shapes in the first place? Was it because of an engineering reason (room/volume to fit into) or because two different teams were working on the designs of the two modules? Seems daft that on essentially the same spacecraft, there are two devices that do the same job with different designs. It's always bothered me...

    That aside, it is good to see these guys being recognised.

  2. Good training and preparedness by GomezAdams · · Score: 5, Interesting
    One of the processes of setting up any critical mission whether for space or here below is doing the 'what if' drills. As a former submariner we trained to do our jobs under normal circumstances, then drilled even more for doing that job and several others under duress. Same with the space program. They have procedures for every almost every contingency and drill the crew and staff untl they could handle stress and deliver.

    Bravo to them and the Apollo 13 crew. Well done!

    --
    Too lazy to create a sig...
  3. Re:Duct tape.. by thevoice · · Score: 3, Interesting

    For that kind of industrial strength goodness you need gaffer tape.

    I've seen doors hinged on that stuff alone, it leaves duct tape for dead.

  4. Houston We('ve) ha(d/ve) a problem? by McFadden · · Score: 5, Interesting
    What I found most interesting from the Yahoo! article was the "Houston we've had a problem" quote. Assuming the journalist has done his homework (and a quick Google search would indicate that he probably has), it's interesting that the phrase "Houston we have a problem" seems to be the one that has entered the public consciousness (or at least amongst the crowd that I hang out with).

    As for which was uttered on Apollo 13, I think the latter phrase is the one that accompanied the eponymous movie about the troubled flight (IMDB confirms this) and so has become more well known amongst a certain generation than the original.

    As someone who used to teach English, hats off to Swigert, who in his moment of crisis used the more appropriate present perfect tense (have + past participle) to suggest an incident that happened in the (recent) past but is still (extremely) relevant now.

    Sorry.... I really should get out more.

    McF

  5. I was the film but can't remember by jago25_98 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Guess it was a while ago but I can't remember how they did it. That's Tom Hanks for you.

    As a result here's my executive summary:

    - oxygen tank exploded
    - 2 of 3 fuel cells lost
    "Houston, we've had a problem."

    - Ed Smylie, engineer at home watching TV disaster rushes into the centre
    - O2 buildup fixable with lithium hydroxide canisters to help CO2 buildup...
    but some of the backup square canisters were not compatible with the round openings in the lunar module

    "If you saw the movie (`Apollo 13'), it wasn't like that," Smylie said, adding there wasn't any hollering and screaming. "Everything is pretty calm, cool and collected in our business."

    - used duck-tape to convert the backup square canisters to fit the round lunar module fittings

    - this allowed the astronauts to breath just that little bit longer

    --
    A blog I run for the wealth
  6. Long Overdue... by IdJit · · Score: 3, Interesting

    These guys deserved special recognition decades ago. What they did for those guys up there was nothing short of remarkable, especially in a highly dangerous environment such as space, and most remarkably with the fledgling technology they had available.

    Kudos to the often-uncelebrated ground crew and their determination to get Lovell and crew back safely.

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    GET FREE APPLE STUFF!
  7. A Top Ten Geek Movie by theonetruekeebler · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Apollo 13 is easily one of the ten best geek movies out there. I really and truly admired the engineers the film portrayed---they were clever and resourceful, kluging up a solution to a life-threatening problem tens of thousands of miles away.

    The reason this is such a wonderful geek film is that there is no bad guy. No evil to overcome. It's not even man versus nature. It's man versus The Problem, and man, brandishing a slide rule and some duct tape, triumphs.

    --
    This is not my sandwich.